Chapter One

Introductions

Violet Winters

The Queen of Death

"Hey, science freak, what are you doing here?" a guard's voice asked her right before a crumpled ball of paper hit the back of her head. The guard chuckled to his friends. "She's so slow. If she really were an Enhanced, she would have avoided it. What a loser."

Calm down, Violet, she told herself, They're not worth it.

"Don't tease her, Davis. Miss Winters did an excellent job yesterday," a new voice said. She recognized that voice; it was Mr. Shang.

"In fact," he continued, "I wouldn't be surprised if she went on this career. It's perfect for her. Now, Violet, I expect you in the conference room this afternoon. I have a new assignment for you."

"Yes, Sir."

Mr. Shang's bright blue eyes stared at her own before nodding. "Good."

Fifteen years later

Lilly raised her glass before speaking, "A toast. To our very own scientist, the mind behind the curtains, Violet Winters."

Five more glasses met hers and they cheered before drinking their wine. The celebrant downed hers reluctantly as her friends gaily drank theirs. She put down her glass with a sigh before standing up and excusing herself to get some air.

"Is something wrong?" Karen asked.

"Nothing, Piage. I just want some air. Don't wait up for me; go ahead and celebrate," she replied, easily lying before going out of the club, passing through compactly pressed bodies on her way out.

Once outside, she gripped her bag tightly before walking aimlessly around. She had passed three blocks when a sleek black car stopped right beside her and three men in suits stepped out. At that, she tightened her grip on her bag.

"Miss Winters?" the one in the middle asked, taking off his glasses without waiting for an answer. "I'm Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. I understand that you used to work for HYDRA."

Violet kept silent, keeping a cool mask. She couldn't let her emotions show, that would be a terrible mistake.

"We'd like to ask you to come with us," Coulson said with an undertone. If she resisted, she would be taken by force.

"On whose orders?" Her voice was calm, betraying no emotion as she stalled.

"We're not at liberty to discuss that," was the reply.

After a moment, she nodded and got in the car, turning off her phone as she did so. Hopefully, they wouldn't notice that their conversation was heard by her companions. Hopefully.

"You're a hard woman to find, Miss Winters," Agent Coulson told her once they started moving before scanning the folder his companion gave him. "It says here you've been to practically every country in the world, including Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, that usually means you're trying to hide, or you're looking for something. Which is it?"

"I'm not at liberty to discuss that," she threw his own words back at him.

Agent Coulson wasn't fazed. "Alright. Here's what's going to happen, you accept the mission we give you, or you say no and go to holding. Those are your best options. If you say no, we have permission to treat you as hostile and use any means necessary to subdue you. The choice is yours."

"What's the mission?"

"We need you to work for us, train under us before going undercover at HYDRA."

"And you need me to do this because?"

"You'll see. Do you accept?"

Violet thought about it. She could easily escape but did she really want that blood on her hands? She shook her head; these guys would be easy. She didn't even need to knock them out. She just needed to get to HYDRA. The way these guys talked about them… it made her curious about the organization once more.

"I need to call my friends. Can we stop for a while?" she asked them.

Agent Coulson shook his head. "You can call them once we get to base."

She silently cursed. She did have to knock them out. Grabbing her bag, she took out her vial.

"What's that?" he asked.

"It helps calm me down," she lied before crushing it, making its vapor travel in the vehicle.

In a flash, the other two who weren't driving pulled out their guns and aimed at her. They were about to speak when, suddenly, they went limp. The car spiraled out of control as the driver froze and, quick as a flash, Violet pulled the emergency brake.

It was too late. The car went towards a building and crashed right into it, shattering glass. Luckily for them, despite the car itself being wrecked, they were unharmed, save for a few cuts and bruises.

"Geez, I'm losing my touch," Violet muttered before seeing Coulson's face. "Sorry for lying, Agent, but you should have seen it coming."

Breaking the glass window, she got out of the car, running towards her apartment as fast as her legs could carry her.

Curse my stupidity for letting them track me like that. I should have known better. Stupid, stupid, stupid. I'm an idiot.

Upon reaching her apartment, she got all dolled up before packing her things. She was about to leave when she saw some agents knocking down her door. She cursed. How could she be so stupid?

Grabbing her suitcase, she jumped onto the roof of her garage. Unlocking it, she took her motorcycle and fled to the only place she knew she'd be safe from S.H.I.E.L.D. Sadly, that meant HYDRA.

"Well, well, well," Alexander Pierce said as he approached her. "The prodigal son returns, or should I say, daughter. What brings you here, Miss Winters?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. came looking for me," she replied as fifteen soldiers surrounded her. "I needed a place to stay."

"You can't just stay here, Violet. You, of all people, should understand that."

"I know. I'll work for you," she said.

"We have enough scientists."

"I wasn't just talking about science, Pierce," Violet told him. "I can still fight, you know."

He scanned her up and down. She did look the same as when he last saw her, despite the fact that she was older. If anything, she was taller, and her hair was much longer than her haircut when she was with them.

"Prove it."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

He took it as a sign to continue.

"Fight our best assassin: the Winter Soldier."

Violet showed no emotion, looking as calm, cool and collected as ever.

"Alright, I will. Let's do it now, in the training cage." She paused. "Unless you changed the structure of this place."

"No, no," he said with a wave of his hand. "The training cage it is. Get ready, Miss Winters. If you lose, you'll die."

With that, they walked towards the training cage and she faced her opponent.

The Winter Soldier, or James Barnes, would be completely intimidating to anybody else who saw him. His hair reached his shoulders, framing his face, which was mostly hidden his mask, save for his eyes. His eyes were dark and mysterious, piercing into her own midnight blue ones. He, of course, had a metal arm and, for a second, she stopped to admire the detail embedded into it.

"Soldier," Pierce stepped forward. "Your mission is simple: fight her."

Violet resisted the urge to eye roll, causing her to almost miss the movement of her opponent. He had run forward, trying to catch her in his grip.

She dodged to her right before running to put some distance between them as they both analyzed each other for a while. He was tall, taller than her by around six inches. He relied more on his metal arm, which was understandable, but she guessed he was overall skilled in combat.

It's simple, she thought to herself, He relies on his strength so I should avoid getting caught at all costs. Speed is my best weapon; swift yet strong hits are my way to win.

She processed all that in a second and waited for him to attack, wanting to look and see for any openings. He rushed forward and she quickly noted that he was almost as fast as her. She silently cursed. This match was going to be close.

The moment he got nearer, she blocked his arm and landed a square kick to the chest. He wasn't fazed by the attack but his eyes held a little surprise in the way she managed to block his punch.

Violet grinned before running towards him, her boots making an audible sound as she ran and launched herself in the air, aiming a kick to his face. He saw it coming and dodged, making her hit air. She landed perfectly on both feet and dodged yet another punch, followed by another and another.

Despite her doing nothing but dodging, she realized she was wearing out quickly. At this rate, she would never take him out. Once his flesh arm aimed a punch at her, she grabbed his fist and flipped him over, almost being hit by his metal arm in the process.

Once she got him on the ground, she retaliated with a punch of her own, which he caught easily. She cursed silently as he squeezed her fist and punched her square in the jaw and making her go backwards. Getting up, he aimed a kick at her chest but she rolled between his legs, hitting his groin in the process.

Showing no emotion but a slight wince which only she saw, he turned around and continued attacking. Taking a breath, she cursed herself for having weak lungs. She knew she had to end this now, or she would definitely lose.

Quick as lightning, she closed her eyes and let her instincts take over. Dodging a punch, she kicked him in the face before following with a kick to his ribs. Immediately after, she flipped him over and pinned him to the ground before he could recover. Positioning herself so that she was basically straddling him, she pinned his metal arm to the side of the cage using a pair of cuffs she nicked from the guards.

Her opponent instinctively tried to pull away. Using his distraction, she pinned his other arm to the ground and started to choke him, blocking his airway. He struggled, hard, but she kept going at it anyway. She had to. She couldn't fail.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, he gave up. Going limp, he tapped the ground twice using his other arm.

"Enough, Violet," said Pierce.

Instantaneously, she let go, somersaulting and standing up properly. She faced him and masked her face once again.

"I see you're still our best fighter, then. You'll go with the Winter Soldier in his assignments. You'll be back-up," he told her. "Someone will go to your old room and give you your assignment when needed. I trust you don't need someone to show you around."

"No, Sir."

"Good. Don't disappoint me, Miss Winters."

"Have I ever?" she asked him.

He chuckled. "Never. Welcome back, Violet."

He left after telling a guard to get both her and her opponent to a medic. Her eyes went to her opponent as he got up and followed them to the clinic, walking beside her as he did so.

"You're quite the legacy around here, Miss Winters," said the guard escorting them. "I wasn't here to see you personally, of course, but I heard enough stories. Is it true you were the one who killed that Russian scientist ten years ago?"

"He was Iranian, Mr. Penton, and it was eleven years ago," she corrected him. "But if you're referring to that particular assassination, then, yes. I killed him, using his own gun. A bullet to the lungs, filling them with blood."

The guard winced slightly. "Damn. That's gotta hurt."

"Keep talking and you'll know for sure," she replied with a glare.

That shut him up.

Violet glanced at her companion who was silent the whole way. "You're the Winter Soldier, huh? Your punches were pretty good, but your endurance is particularly interesting. You're one of the few people who can withstand more than one of my kicks and still be breathing. How's the rib?"

He looked at her coldly, but she found curiosity behind the façade. He placed a hand on his broken rib before speaking. "I've been worse."

She stared at his eyes, searching for something warm. It was there, hidden away. She blinked twice when she realized what she was doing.

"We're here," the guard announced in a small voice, opening the door to the clinic.

Violet stepped in and saw things had changed indeed. There was a familiar contraption in the middle of the room; it was for the Winter Soldier. He directly went there and strapped himself as she sat on a chair, waiting.

The doctor, an elderly woman came in. Her eyes scanned the room and showed very little surprise when they met hers.

"Hello, Violet. I see you've returned."

She made no answer to the greeting, prompting the doctor to go to work on the other person. She examined the damage on the arm, running her fingers across the surface.

"My goodness, what did you do to this?" she muttered under her breath.

Violet stood up and approached them, her wounds already healing. "He fought me, of course. What else would you expect?"

The doctor sighed. "You should have more self-control, Violet. Do you know how much this costs?"

She ignored that. "Can I?"

"To anybody else, I would say no. But, this is you. Go ahead."

She sat on the chair, her eyes studying the mechanisms as he stared at her warily. Getting right to work, she repaired his arm, smoothing out the dents caused by their fight and upgrading the wiring used.

In a few minutes, she was done. Stepping back, she admired her handiwork and smiled for a split second, proud of herself.

"Why did you have to fight anyway?" the doctor asked her. "I mean, I understand why but why didn't you just show him your card. You still outrank him, you know."

Violet ignored her and faced the Winter Soldier instead.

"Let's start over." She held out her left hand. "I'm Violet Winters."

He grasped her hand with his metal one. "I'm the Winter Soldier."

Author's Note:

And that's the end of Chapter One. I'm trying out different writing styles now, so forgive me if this is too sloppy or cringey. Also, this has not been beta-read; I check the grammar and spelling myself. Feel free to point out mistakes nicely. Thank you for reading. Have an awesome day!